Rheinsteig · Stage 12
Walking time as rheinsteig.de states it for this stage; measured on the mapped line: 5 h 21. Climb measured on the mapped line, on terrain heights. Rheinsteig.de
From Braubach to Kamp-Bornhofen: 16.4 km, 6 h, difficult, with 793 m of climb.
Best season: All year. The trail body marks every month as suitable on every Etappe. In 2026 the limits are elsewhere: no trains on the right bank until 11 or 12 December, the scheduled KD boats only to 18 October (then one winter round trip between Rüdesheim and St. Goarshausen, with a minimum number of passengers), ferries stopped or limited by the low Rhine in October, and driven hunts closing short sections on announced autumn Saturdays. Autumn leaves hide roots and stones, the trail body's safety page warns. Before you go
Facts read from the guide's sources and OpenStreetMap on 13 October 2026. A page can change after we read it, so confirm with your accommodation before you rely on a date or a bed.
Stage start
Town
A small town; the Etappe ends in the centre, by the partner host.
A town or village: find accommodation yourself. TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Landgasthof Zum Weissen Schwanen · Hotel
Season 2026: 2026 dates not published
Stage end · overnight
Town
A village on the Rhine. The partner hosts listed for it are across the river in Boppard; the host pages do not say which ferry to take.
A town or village: find accommodation yourself. TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Make it your trip
No booking is needed for the trail itself; book each night with the host. The trail body lists certified Rheinsteig partner hosts, all offering luggage transfer, a shuttle, packed lunches and a drying room, and luggage-free packages ("Wandern ohne Gepäck"), such as Bonn to Wiesbaden in 17 Etappen over 19 days. Several partners at Linz, Bad Hönningen, Koblenz, Kamp-Bornhofen and St. Goarshausen are across the Rhine: check the ferry's hours before you book.
The twenty-one official Etappen, a night at the end of each.
Plan this journeyThe Siebengebirge and the lower Middle Rhine, Etappen 1 to 9.
Plan this journeyThe upper Middle Rhine by the Loreley, Etappen 10 to 17.
Plan this journeyThe Rheingau, Etappen 18 to 21.
Plan this journeyLoading the forecast for low point (72 m) and high point (285 m)…
Typical weather on this stage: at the lowest point (72 m) and the highest point (285 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Mixed | Mixed | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Mixed |
| High point, day / night | 5°/0° | 6°/0° | 10°/2° | 15°/5° | 19°/8° | 22°/12° | 24°/13° | 24°/13° | 19°/10° | 13°/6° | 8°/3° | 5°/0° |
| Low point, day / night | 6°/1° | 7°/1° | 11°/3° | 16°/6° | 20°/9° | 24°/13° | 25°/15° | 25°/14° | 20°/10° | 15°/7° | 9°/4° | 6°/2° |
| Rain, mm | 58 | 50 | 53 | 46 | 60 | 66 | 81 | 63 | 60 | 65 | 61 | 71 |
| Snow at high point | Possible | Possible | Frost | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Possible |
| Daylight | 8 h 29 | 10 h 03 | 11 h 47 | 13 h 44 | 15 h 24 | 16 h 23 | 16 h 01 | 14 h 34 | 12 h 43 | 10 h 51 | 9 h 04 | 8 h 05 |
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
All trains between Troisdorf and Wiesbaden are stopped from 10 July to 11 December 2026 (Deutsche Bahn says 12 December) for works on the line. Purple replacement buses serve every station, with express lines Wiesbaden – Rüdesheim – Koblenz and Koblenz – Bad Honnef – Bonn-Ramersdorf – Troisdorf; they carry no bicycles, except folded folding bikes. The ferries at Königswinter, Linz and Erpel take public-transport tickets, the Deutschlandticket too. The left-bank railway keeps a basic service. Deutsche Bahn, read 13 October 2026.
Deutsche Bahn: replacement buses on the right bank of the RhineAfter the rockfall of 31 August 2026, the B42 between St. Goarshausen and Kaub has been closed since 28 September for about 400 m at the Loreley rock, for an expected three to five months, and the visitor area of the Loreley plateau is closed until the works end; the Mythos hall and the toilets stay open. This is on Etappe 15, and the closure is not on our map: follow the signs on the spot. The road closure may also change the replacement buses between Kaub and St. Goarshausen. The trail body's own rail notice, dated 11 August, still calls the B42 open. LBM Rheinland-Pfalz, read 13 October 2026.
LBM Rheinland-Pfalz: B42 at the Loreley closedThe Foveaux stairs in Bonn have been closed since 2 June 2026: a signed detour by the Foveaux-Weg is about 500 m longer. The repair is planned for 2027/28, with no firm date. City of Bonn, read 13 October 2026.
City of Bonn: the Foveaux stairs closedBetween Sayn and Vallendar the trail is closed at the Galgenberg for building work until about the end of February or early March 2027, with a long detour signed on the ground. City of Bendorf, read 13 October 2026.
City of Bendorf: diversion on the RheinsteigDriven hunts close short sections on announced days: on Etappe 3 on Saturday 7 November 2026, where the detour is only on the trail body's map, not marked on the ground; on Etappe 16, between Kaub and Weisel, on Saturdays 31 October and 7 November, 08:00 to 17:00, with a signed diversion. The trail body shows its notices on each Etappe's page. Read 13 October 2026.
Rheinsteig: path noticesOn 13 October 2026 the low Rhine had stopped the Lorch – Niederheimbach ferry; the Kaub ferry ran again from 11 October, for vehicles up to 3.5 t; the Loreley ferry runs all year, but the Deutschlandticket is not valid on it. The KD boats run to 18 October, then only one winter round trip between Rüdesheim and St. Goarshausen. Ferry operators, read 13 October 2026.
Romantischer Rhein: the Rhine ferriesGetting there
Travel around Braubach to Kamp-Bornhofen.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
Bonn Hbf has regional trains and, during the works, an hourly long-distance train each way between Mainz, Koblenz, Bonn and Köln; the trains between Berlin and Bonn start and end in Köln until the works end. A yellow access path leads from the station to the start on the Marktplatz.
Deutsche Bahn: the transport plan for the worksMost Etappe ends have a station on the right-bank railway, served by replacement buses until 11 or 12 December 2026. Rengsdorf, Johannisberg, Kiedrich and Schlangenbad have buses only: Kiedrich and Schlangenbad to Eltville station (lines 172 and 173). The Kasbachtalbahn from Linz to Kalenborn runs as normal.
Deutsche Bahn: replacement busesThe trail ends at Schloss Biebrich. The official record names no onward connection; from Wiesbaden the RB 10 to Frankfurt runs during the works.
RMV: journey plannerTake your trip with you
Prepare each Etappe while you still have a connection: in the side valleys and the forests on the heights the signal can be weak.
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
Route & sources
Romantischer Rhein Tourismus GmbH, which runs the trail, publishes the Rheinsteig as twenty-one Etappen, numbered north to south from the Bonn Marktplatz to Schloss Biebrich in Wiesbaden, with an official stage time for each, shown beside ours on every stage: about 318 km by the sum of the Etappen, 311.4 km and 98 h 05 by its whole-trail record, and 320 km on its portrait page. The Etappen end at points on the blue-marked trail, where the yellow access paths (Zuwege) lead down to the towns and stations, often 1 to 3 km more. The line here is the twenty-one Etappe relations of the Rheinsteig on OpenStreetMap (superroute 2685, from the planet of 11 October 2026): 312.8 km, cut at the official Etappe ends. Etappe 1 is 22.2 km on our line against 23.8 km, and on Etappe 3 the line passes the foot of the Erpeler Ley instead of walking out round the plateau and back (about 0.75 km). The line is not changed for the current diversions: follow the signed detours round the Foveaux stairs in Bonn (Etappe 1) and the Galgenberg near Sayn (Etappe 8). On Etappe 15 the visitor area of the Loreley plateau is closed for rock-safety works, and that closure is not on the map. Our climb is measured on terrain heights, so short steep steps are smoothed out.
Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 13 October 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.
Rheinsteig: the EtappenMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation